When America sends its fighting men and women to far-flung areas to the world to do battle and protect freedom, casualties all too often result. Those service men and women receive recognition through monuments or statues that commemorate their service and demand permanent remembrance of their sacrifice.

After the United States Civil War, Northern and Southern courthouse lawns alike featured the statue of a single Union or Confederate soldier to represent the loss and its legacy.

Someday, visitors to the Webster County Courthouse in Webster Springs may see a solemn reminder of the murder of West Virginia Army National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom.

“My baby girl has passed to Glory,” her grieving father Gary Beckstrom posted to social media.

Hopefully, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe of Martinsburg will not need to have a similar monument at the Berkeley County Courthouse, as he still battles for his life.

On a National Public Radio Broadcast, West Virginia State Senator Jason Barrett shared his thoughts and prayers, then added “it’s certainly something baffling to me . . . why anyone would want to just go and . . . have a viscous and unprovoked attack on two people who are there merely and solely to protect others.”

“When I heard that some of our Guardsmen were going to be deployed, I said a prayer for them, too,” related Nicolas Diehl, chief administrator of the Eastern Regional Airport that hosts the 167th Airlift Group.

Beckstrom joined the National Guard to build a foundation that, as the New York Post reported, would likely have helped her achieve her dream of a career at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

While the rest of the nation responded in shock at the shooting that took place just before the Thanksgiving holiday, Webster County remembers and mourns the 2023 Webster County High School graduate. A number of national and international press outlets ran a photo of her in red graduation garb, smiling in happier times.

“There are no words big enough for this loss,” West Virginia Metro News quoted the Webster County Veterans Auxiliary as expressing.